Mustafa Ahmed Muhammad Uthman Abu al-Yazid ( ar, مصطفى أحمد محمد عثمان أبو اليزيد), better known as Saeed al-Masri ( ar, سعيد المصري) or simply al-Masri, (February 27, 1955 - May 21, 2010) was an
Egyptian
Egyptian describes something of, from, or related to Egypt.
Egyptian or Egyptians may refer to:
Nations and ethnic groups
* Egyptians, a national group in North Africa
** Egyptian culture, a complex and stable culture with thousands of years of ...
who was alleged to have acted as the financial chief for
al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda (; , ) is an Islamic extremism, Islamic extremist organization composed of Salafist jihadists. Its members are mostly composed of Arab, Arabs, but also include other peoples. Al-Qaeda has mounted attacks on civilian and military ta ...
. Along with
Mahfouz Ould al-Walid
Mahfouz Ould al-Walid (Arabic: محفوظ ولد الوالد), kunya Abu Hafs al-Mauritani ( ar, أبو حفص الموريتاني), is a Mauritanian Islamic scholar and poet previously associated with al-Qaeda. A veteran of the Soviet–Afgh ...
and
Saif al-Adel
Saif al-Adel ( ar, سيف العدل; born April 11, 1960/63) is a former Egyptian colonel, explosives expert, and a high-ranking member of al-Qaeda who is still at large. Adel is under indictment by the United StatesSeptember 11 attacks
The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercia ...
two months prior to their execution. He was killed in a
targeted killing
Targeted killing is a form of murder or assassination carried out by governments outside a judicial procedure or a battlefield.
Since the late 20th century, the legal status of targeted killing has become a subject of contention within and betw ...
drone airstrike in
Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
on May 21, 2010.
In Pakistan
He was initially arrested among hundreds of others following the assassination of
Anwar Sadat
Muhammad Anwar el-Sadat, (25 December 1918 – 6 October 1981) was an Egyptian politician and military officer who served as the third president of Egypt, from 15 October 1970 until his assassination by fundamentalist army officers on 6 ...
in 1981.
Fox
Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush'').
Twelve sp ...
Senior al-Qaeda commander killed in Pakistan August 12, 2008 He was imprisoned for three years in Egypt, and shortly after he joined Egyptian Islamic Jihad, and in 1988 went to Afghanistan. He had two wives and several sons and daughters, including one married to the son of
Sheikh Omar Abd al-Rahman
Sheikh Omar Abdel-Rahman ( ar, عمر عبد الرحمن), (ʾUmar ʾAbd ar-Raḥmān; 3 May 1938 – 18 February 2017), commonly known in the United States as "The Blind Sheikh", was a blind Egyptian Islamist militant who served a life sente ...
Terrorism Focus
The Jamestown Foundation is a Washington, D.C.-based conservative defense policy think tank. Founded in 1984 as a platform to support Soviet defectors, its stated mission today is to inform and educate policy makers about events and trends, whi ...
Volume 4, Issue 21. The Jamestown Foundation. Washington, DC. p. 5-7.
As of 1991, al-Masri was working as the financial chief for al-Qaeda, running the ''Mektabh al-Muhassiba'' (accounting office) in
Peshawar
Peshawar (; ps, پېښور ; hnd, ; ; ur, ) is the sixth most populous city in Pakistan, with a population of over 2.3 million. It is situated in the north-west of the country, close to the International border with Afghanistan. It is ...
. He was alleged to have appointed
Ibrahim al-Qosi
Ibrahim Ahmed Mahmoud al Qosi ( ar, إبراهيم أحمد محمود القوصي) (born July 1960) is a Sudanese militant and paymaster for al-Qaeda.NGO projects.
In Sudan
Al-Masri set up a financial office on McNimr Street in
Khartoum
Khartoum or Khartum ( ; ar, الخرطوم, Al-Khurṭūm, din, Kaartuɔ̈m) is the capital of Sudan. With a population of 5,274,321, its metropolitan area is the largest in Sudan. It is located at the confluence of the White Nile, flowing n ...
on June 9, 1993, from where he managed al-Qaeda's payroll. al-Fadl aided al-Masri until he was replaced by Abu Dijana al-Yemeni and Abdallah Lubnani.
After receiving his pilot license,
L'Houssaine Kherchtou
L'Houssaine Kherchtou (born May 15, 1964) was an early initiate in al-Qaeda, joining the militant group in 1991. In 2000, he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to murder, but as he was the chief witness against four of his former colleagues, all of whom ...
returned to the Sudan in December 1995, but was appalled to find that his wife, heavily pregnant and in need of $500 for a cesarean section, was begging on the streets for money to allow her entrance to Khartoum's general hospital. Kherchtou went to al-Masri and asked him to cover his wife's medical bills, and was upset upon being informed there was no money to spare and al-Masri suggested he take her to a Muslim charitable hospital for free treatment. He angrily demanded to know "if it was your wife or your daughter, you would take her there", and later recounted that he was angry enough to have shot al-Masri if he had had a gun at the time.Benjamin, Daniel & Steven Simon. "The Age of Sacred Terror", 2002Vest, Jason. American Prospect Pray and Tell , June 19, 2005Bergen, Peter. "The Osama bin Laden I Know", 2006. p. 141 & 154
Return to Pakistan, claims of death
In May 2007, al-Masri released a video promising Americans that al-Qaeda troops had been training through the winter and were ready to begin a fresh summer offensive in Afghanistan.Al-Jazirah carries video remarks by 'new' al-Qa'ida official in Afghanistan May 27, 2007.
In December, al-Masri was said to have claimed responsibility for the
assassination of Benazir Bhutto
The assassination of Benazir Bhutto ( ur, بینظیر بھُٹو کا قتل) took place on 27 December 2007 in Rawalpindi, Pakistan. Benazir Bhutto, twice Prime Minister of Pakistan (1988–1990; 1993–1996) and then-leader of the oppositi ...
, telling Adnkronos International that "we terminated the most precious American asset which vowed to defeat
mujahideen
''Mujahideen'', or ''Mujahidin'' ( ar, مُجَاهِدِين, mujāhidīn), is the plural form of ''mujahid'' ( ar, مجاهد, mujāhid, strugglers or strivers or justice, right conduct, Godly rule, etc. doers of jihād), an Arabic term th ...
". The
Asia Times Online
''Asia Times'' (), formerly known as ''Asia Times Online'', is a Hong Kong-based English language news media publishing group, covering politics, economics, business and culture from an Asian perspective. ''Asia Times'' publishes in English and ...
also reported that it had received a claim of responsibility from al-Masri by telephone.
al-Masri allowed himself to be interviewed on Geo Television in July 2008 following the Danish embassy bombing, which he claimed were carried out by a Saudi follower of al-Qaeda.
Pakistan's
DAWN
Dawn is the time that marks the beginning of twilight before sunrise. It is recognized by the appearance of indirect sunlight being scattered in Earth's atmosphere, when the centre of the Sun's disc has reached 18° below the observer's horizo ...
reported him killed on August 13, 2008 in an airstrike in Bajaur.
Daily Telegraph
Daily or The Daily may refer to:
Journalism
* Daily newspaper, newspaper issued on five to seven day of most weeks
* ''The Daily'' (podcast), a podcast by ''The New York Times''
* ''The Daily'' (News Corporation), a defunct US-based iPad new ...
DAWN
Dawn is the time that marks the beginning of twilight before sunrise. It is recognized by the appearance of indirect sunlight being scattered in Earth's atmosphere, when the centre of the Sun's disc has reached 18° below the observer's horizo ...
Tehrik-i-Taliban
The Pakistani Taliban (), formally called the Tehreek-e-Taliban-e-Pakistan (Urdu/ ps, , lit=Student Movement of Pakistan, TTP), is an umbrella organization of various Islamist armed militant groups operating along the Afghan–Pakistani bor ...
spokesman
Maulvi Omar
Maulvi Said Muhammad, better known as Maulvi Omar or Maulvi Umar, is a senior Taliban commander who was captured by the Pakistani security forces in August 2009. Omar, a spokesman for the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), was a close associate of Ba ...
, himself captured five days after the attack, denied the claim that al-Masri had been killed. Others suggested that the report of his death was a Pakistani attempt to refute recent American accusations that sections of the
ISI
ISI or Isi may refer to:
Organizations
* Intercollegiate Studies Institute, a classical conservative organization focusing on college students
* Ice Skating Institute, a trade association for ice rinks
* Indian Standards Institute, former name of ...
were still assisting al-Qaeda.
On February 9, 2009 the Indian government received a video from al-Yazid in which he reiterated the promise of Pakistani retaliation if India launched a
first strike First strike most commonly refers to:
* Pre-emptive nuclear strike
* Pre-emptive war
First strike may also refer to:
* ''First Strike'' (1996 film), also known as ''Jackie Chan's First Strike'' or ''Police Story 4: First Strike'', an action movie ...
. This video took everyone by surprise as he was presumed to be dead.
Confirmed death
He was reported as having been killed in a US
drone attack
Drone warfare is a form of aerial warfare using unmanned combat aerial vehicles (UCAV) or weaponized commercial unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV). The United States, United Kingdom, Israel, China, South Korea, Iran, Italy, France, India, Pakista ...
in Pakistan on May 21, 2010 along with his wife, three daughters and granddaughter. His death was confirmed by US officials and al-Qaeda.NBC News /ref>
See also
*
Assassination of Benazir Bhutto
The assassination of Benazir Bhutto ( ur, بینظیر بھُٹو کا قتل) took place on 27 December 2007 in Rawalpindi, Pakistan. Benazir Bhutto, twice Prime Minister of Pakistan (1988–1990; 1993–1996) and then-leader of the oppositi ...